Detailed schedule

Intro to interaction design, HTML/CSS, and this course

• Introduction

Demo files: Intro demo (ZIP)

Projects

Start Recipe.

Capturing meaning with HTML/CSS typography

• Brief history of the web
• HTML basics
• CSS basics

Demo files: Basic site (ZIP), Shape of Design excerpt (TXT), Text Fixer

Reading assignments and project deadlines appear under the class when they are due.

Reading

• Read the syllabus, class schedule, and starting and submitting projects.
• HTML & CSS, ch. 1 (available for download)

Do you know how to manage files and folders on a Mac? You will struggle in this class if you don’t have an excellent command of those skills. If you have the slightest doubt about your abilities, start working through sections two and three of the Lynda Computer Literacy for Mac course. (Sign in through the AU Library.)

Projects

• Bring in a recipe
• Fill out class survey

The box model; Classes and IDs

• The CSS box model
• Classes
• IDs (use sparingly)

Demo files: Layout/typography demo (ZIP)

You should be using Firefox as your primary browser for development, because it has the best CSS layout developer tools. Good practice involves checking sites in several browsers, but we will use mostly Firefox.

Projects

Complete HTML for Recipe

Reading

• HTML & CSS, ch. 2 (HTML text), 12 (CSS text)
• Citations and copyright policy

DIVs and sectioning content

• DIVs
• New HTML5 elements
• Typographic elements and class naming exercise

A piece of advice about screen sizes: don’t present sites in full-screen mode, and don’t code with your browser in full-screen mode. Most desktop/laptop users aren’t browsing in full-screen mode, and sites need to be able to adapt to varying screen sizes. Working in full-screen mode guarantees nasty surprises later. Stop doing it, now.

Projects

• Turn in Recipe
• Start Typography exercise

Reading

• HTML & CSS, ch. 3 (lists), 13 (boxes)
• How to succeed in this class

In class

• DIV demo files (ZIP)

Studio

Reading

• HTML & CSS, ch. 4 (links)
• Naming files

Links and images

• The A (anchor/link) element, and links as the currency of the web
• Locating resources: file paths and URLs
• The IMG (image) tag
• Finding, compressing, and using images

Reading

• HTML & CSS, ch. 5 (images)
• How to crit
• Optional: WhatsApp is fighting fake news by limiting its virality

In class

Links demo: Links files (ZIP)

Good practices for where to put your CSS

It’s technically feasible for your CSS to live in a number of places:

• In a separate .css file
• Inside a <style> element, as part of the current HTML file
• Inline, as part of a CSS attribute
  (<p style="margin-top: 1.5em;">)

Tutorials scattered around the web might suggest all of these approaches. For our class, you should almost always put your CSS in a separate .css file, linked to from every page in your site. This tactic encourages you to think about designing systems and reusing code, it is more maintainable and easier to troubleshoot, and it makes CSS specificity easier to understand.

Layout methods and CSS Grid

• Imaginging and building multicolumn layouts with CSS grid
• More on Firefox Developer Tools
• Browser support

See Can I Use.

Demo files: layout demo (ZIP)

Projects

• Turn in Typography exercise
• Start Layout + image exercise

Reading

• Defining a grid (video)
• The fr unit (video)
• Auto-placement and order (video)

Grid exercise; Color models and transparency

Reading

• Look at Jen Simmons Labs
• Jen Simmons, Layout Land: FR Units in CSS Grid and CSS Grid like you are Jan Tschichold

Quiz

This quiz covers basic HTML and CSS syntax, typographic elements, typographic and box CSS features, and lists.

In class

• HSLA, RGB, and named colors
• opacity() vs transparent colors
• Problem-solving grid exercise (files, ZIP)

Studio

Reading

• HTML & CSS, ch. 11 (color)
• Optional: MDN Color (in CSS units article)

Type hierarchy

Projects

• Turn in Image/layout exercise
• Start Story

Reading

• Amy Papelias, Facing Our Fears: Teaching Type on the Web
• “Hierarchy” article on Thinking with Type

In class

• Typography basics
• Type hierarchy

Demo files: type details and layout (ZIP)

Process + sketching/prototyping tools

Projects

• Story: give a three-minute presentation about two possible Wikipedia articles.
• Type/layout/color and site map work, in class

Reading

• Mark Boulton, Visual Design is Not a Thing

In class

• Design process
• Introducing Figma
• Quick look at site maps and information architecture

Style tiles in Figma

Navigation systems; flexbox + navbars

Projects

• For Story, show three design concepts as style tiles, produced in Figma. (Use fonts from the class font list.) Email a shareable link before class.
• Complete background research into your topic and review comparable sites

Reading

• Should I Use Grid or Flexbox. (Note: for this class, you can probably build every project without using Flexbox.)

In class

• Flexbox and navigation bars
• Navbar/flexbox demo (ZIP)

Quiz: setting type in HTML/CSS; know CSS type features from HTML & CSS ch. 12. (Not typeface terminology; not pp. 271, 272, 275, 278, 291, or 292.)

Flexbox + navigation bars

Projects

• Story: Show sketches for design ideas

Reading

• Start listening to Manoush Zomorodi, The Privacy Paradox (complete the activities, if you’d like)

In class

• Flexbox and navigation bars

Demo files

• Navbar/flexbox demo (ZIP), and completed version (ZIP)

Studio

Projects

• Story: Come to class with well-resolved sketches for design ideas. Be prepared to discuss those ideas. Work on building out your idea in code, in class.

Reading

• Norman doors

Accessibility

Projects

• Some time for troubleshooting and debugging for Story.

Reading

• Allison Arieff, Designing for access
• Tom Graham and André Gonçalves, Stop Designing for Only 85% of Users

In class

• Accessibility example (ZIP)
• Accessibility exercise (ZIP)
• Sina Bahram talk

Studio

Projects

• Story: Have a semifinal design for discussion in small groups. Show a front page and an inside page in live HTML/CSS, but be prepared to modify the design in response to today’s discussion.

Reading

• Anil Dash, The Web We Lost
• Anil Dash, Rebuilding the Web We Lost

Studio

Projects

• Story: You should be well on your way toward finishing migrating content into your site.

Reading

• Ethan Zuckerman, The Internet’s Original Sin
• Zeynep Tufekci, Facebook’s Ad Scandal Isn’t a ‘Fail,’ It’s a Feature
• Finish listening to the Privacy Paradox for this class

Privacy and ethics

Reading

• Review Privacy Paradox and Ethan Zuckerman

Projects

• Critique and turn in Story
• Start Conference

Mobile and responsive

• Design for mobile devices
• Responsive web design and media queries

Remember: every website is mobile friendly, until your design starts to break it.

Reading

• Mobile design reading t.b.a.

In class

• Responsive demo (ZIP)

Mobile/responsive exercise

Reading

• Ingrid Burrington, Why Amazon’s Data Centers are Hidden in Spy Country

Mobile/responsive exercise

Projects

• In-progress design critique for Conference

In class

• Mobile/responsive exercise w. demo files (ZIP). Tip: make an empty layout first, then flow in your content.

Reading

• Bodega and backlash/criciticsms plus skepticism about logistics

Critique

Projects

• Show design options for Conference

Reading

• Responsive layout reading t.b.a.
• Optional: Rachel Andrew, How To Align Things in CSS (see Box Alignment, in particular)

Studio

Interactive prototypes + usability testing

• Prototying and usability testing exercise

Reading

• Frank Chimero, The Web’s Grain

Studio

Hosting; Professional practice

• Domain registration, the DNS system, and web hosts
• A few words about dynamically generated or content-managed websites
• Professional practice

Studio

Critique

Projects

• Semifinal critique for Conference